Sweet Dreams
by ChocolatStar
Summary: The Fire Lord has been defeated, and all the world is celebrating its freedom. Though can the battle truly be over? Meanwhile, Katara, now age 20, has a weird dream about a certain Avatar that makes her start to look at him in a very different light...
1. The Dream

This is a bit of a weird thing I just randomly came up with. I'm not entirely sure yet, but I think this will start out quite light-hearted, but gradually grow into something much more in-depth. Possibly. Lol - ok, so I haven't totally made up my mind yet - but let's just see where this goes eh? ;-)

This is a semi alternate world fic. Sokka's 22, Katara's 20 and Toph and Aang are both 18. The Fire Lord has been beaten (yay!) and now our posse are just flying around keeping the lands all peace-a-ful like. Firebenders are becoming rarer and rarer these days…no-one's entirely sure why. Ohhhh, mysterious. The other Nations are keeping a beady eye on the Fire Nation though, just in case they decide to step out of line again.

And as a last thing - even though she probably won't read this story, I would just like to thank 'Jakia' for inadvertently inspiring me to write this story. Her wonderful story (jeez, hooow many uses of the word 'story?') - 'Dangers In Romance,' and more specifically the chapter 'In Which Katara Dreams,' gave me a great blast of the stuff (inspiration that is) to write the opening of my story.

So yeah - thank you )

Anyway - everyone enjoy you crazy Avatards you ;) This first bit is bit ur…sexy, I suppose lol Just to tell yah.

Disclaimer: Yes, I own Avatar: The Last Airbender…oh wait sorry, was I dreaming again?

Sweet Dreams 

He kissed her. Hard.

It was passionate and fiery, and he pressed into her mouth with a sudden hunger that the brunette didn't ever think possible for the young, supposedly innocent teenager.

The kiss deepened, and feeling brave, the woman allowed her hands to wander up his shirt, exploring the smooth flesh of his chest and back.

The young man followed suit, letting one hand drop to rub the brunette's leg, and another to gently caress her neck.

The girl moaned - a low, husky sound that undoubtedly pleaded for more.

The man broke off the kiss abruptly - the brunette whimpering lightly in disappointment - before ever-so-lightly nibbling and pecking at the soft line of her neck.

Her buttons being very skilfully pushed indeed, the woman groaned again, arching herself slightly in reaction.

She heard him laugh, obviously enjoying the moment, before feeling his lips upon hers again.

The kisses came light at first - the man teasing her with soft brushes and nips. But the brunette, burning with an unquenchable desire as she was, quickly became impatient - and it was with both hands that she reached round to back of the man's head, and pressed his mouth against hers.

Mouths opened, tongues danced and soon the pair were at the height of their passion once again. Desire became need - and the room was suddenly so hot. Everything but his lips on hers seemed irrelevant. Unimportant.

It was now only a matter of who would take that inevitable step first.

Lips still interlocked, she felt his hands begin to work at the white sash of her robe. She smiled, while her own hands began to gently slide the man's shirt up over his head -

Katara awoke with a start. Her heart was hammering, and she felt sticky with guilty sweat. Not to mention rather dirty.

The man in her dream….

It had been Aang.

What did that mean? _Did _that mean anything?

Oh Spirits.

The Waterbender's body still tingled in joy of the whole fantasy, and Katara quickly got up to stop it. Stupid body. It shouldn't be reacting in this way - not to a friend!

That was wrong.

It was beyond wrong.

It was crossing the line.

The brunette bended a small amount of water onto her face to cool it, before carefully manoeuvring the liquid back into her water-skin.

Though, in her dream, it had felt quite good. In her dream. Maybe if Katara simply allowed her mind to wander…

No! - Because it was wrong.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

The young Waterbender let her eyes scan the small tent she had slept in overnight as a way of distraction from her illicit thoughts.

She noted Sokka was already gone. Which was somewhat odd for her sleep-loving brother. The young Water Tribe member was usually the last one up. …Not to mention the most reluctant.

The brunette smiled lightly to herself at the thought, before turning to collect up her supplies in preparation for the day's travels. As she did, Katara wondered how she might act around Aang now.

Pah. What was she thinking? She was being ridiculous.

It was only a dream for Spirits sake. As in - not real. Fictional. Something made up from a combination of lusty teenage hormones and a severe lack of choice in available men to fantasise about. That was all.

Nothing to worry about.

"Hey - you're finally awake."

The girl jumped at the sudden interruption, and quickly turned to find her brother standing in the doorway of the tent. He grinned at her. "Ha ha - made you jump."

The brunette rolled her eyes.

"You've been asleep for ages Katara," Sokka exclaimed, "We're all ready to leave. We've been waiting for you." The young man continued to grin stupidly, as he said in a dreamy kind of way, "Wow - I never thought I'd see the day when I, Sokka, would be awake before my sister. This truly is a proud moment. You must have been having _some _dream Katara."

He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, and the girl flushed madly. She turned away quickly to mask it, but apparently not quickly enough for the keen eyes of Sokka…

"Are - are you turning red, Katara?" asked her brother, amused.

This of course only caused the brunette to turn an even darker shade. She could practically feel the heat radiating from her cheeks.

"What? Of - of course not."

"Was it Haru?"

Katara's eyes flashed as she turned sharply back to her brother. "Oh my God, Sokka!"

The pony-tailed man laughed, holding up his hands in a sign of truce. "Hey - I'm sorry, but as horribly disgusting as this is to say, you're a young woman now - and as a young woman I'm sure you'll get urges -"

Sokka paused his 'wise big brother advice talk' when he noticed Katara was holding her head in her hands.

"Please Sokka, would you just leave?" She muffled through her fingers, before raising her head to look at him. "And be safe in the knowledge that at twenty, I hold a slight understanding about the birds and the bees."

The man grinned. "Alright, alright. It's just, in all seriousness now, I know you never had mom to talk to about any of this growing-up stuff…so just know, well, that if you did need anything - that I'm always here to talk."

The brunette smiled. Well that was rather sweet.

"Thank you Sokka. I'll remember that."

The man nodded and turned. He hesitated for a moment though. Standing on the tent's threshold, Sokka turned back to Katara, before saying, "Seriously though, I really did think we'd have to get Aang in here to give you the kiss of life if you didn't wake up soon."

Katara, having gone back to packing after thinking the conversation was over, shot up her head up, crying, "What?!"

The man raised an eyebrow at his sister's over-the-top reaction. "I'm…joking."

Katara stared for a couple of seconds too long, before laughing. Unconvincingly. "Yeah, I know," she breezed, trying to sound casual and laid-back about the whole episode. As if the mention of Aang's name hadn't just made her heart do a backwards summersault…

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Urr….ok. Clearly you're not completely awake yet. I'll let you get to it. Don't be too long now."

And with that, he left.

Katara let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding.

Ok, it was definitely time to look deep into herself. Why, oh why, had that whole conversation with her brother - a light-hearted, easy going verbal bout between brother and sister - made her feel so incredibly uncomfortable?

And why couldn't she get the image of her and Aang out of her head?

What was going on here?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's the first chapter. Cute, no?

Hope everyone enjoyed that. I'll update ASAP. Pinkie-swear.

Reviews are my sun on a rainy day ;-)


	2. Severe Awkwardness

Hey hey! ) How's it going?

This here is chapter the second. I hope you all enjoy it.

And can I just say a big thank you to Brianna Blackshear for her lovely review? Since you're anonymous - I thought I'd thank yah this way ;) - I really appreciate it. Thank you for the kind words Brianna!

And of course thank you to everyone else who reviewed. It was all lovely.

Disclaimer: I own lots of things, but sadly not Avatar: The Last Airbender. I know. It's tragic.

Sweet Dreams - Chapter 2 Severe Awkwardness

The trip to - well, wherever it was the group had decided to go that day (Katara had sort of day-dreamed her way through that particular conversation that morning) - was, in the brunette's mind, as awkward and weird as she had dreaded it would be.

Katara sat, stiff-backed, next to Toph, on one side of Appa's saddle. Sokka was sat opposite them, trying to look all manly while sharpening his machete.

Aang was sitting at the head of his giant bison, guiding him.

The young, tattooed boy had taken it upon himself to continuously scan the land for any potential danger. The Fire Lord may have been defeated, but there were still Fire Nation rebels out there who were looking to finish their leaders work.

Next to the brunette, Toph fidgeted. "Are you ok Katara?" the blind girl asked. "It's just…despite being in the air; I'm picking up some pretty intensely confused vibes from you."

Katara turned to regard her friend with wide eyes. Already she could feel herself perspiring.

Damn - Toph was on to her. Could she not hide _anything _from that girl?

"I'm perfectly fine Toph - but thank you for your concern. I appreciate it."

The Earthbender shrugged. "Sure."

Out of the corner of her eye, Katara noticed Aang turn her way. The Waterbender could feel his eyes burn into her (weirdly giving the girl goose bumps for some reason), before Aang cried, "Katara! - Could you come sit with me for a minute?"

The woman's heart instantly started to pound. She noticed Toph frown. Katara guessed that she was probably trying to work out exactly why the prospect of sitting next to Aang would cause the Waterbender's heart rate to increase so much.

Katara tried to ignore the fact that Toph would most likely figure it out as well, and instead, got up with a gulp.

She came to sit next to her tattooed friend, leaning on the small rise of Appa's back. The brunette was careful not to meet Aang's eyes - instead keeping her attention on the fast-moving landscape below them.

Katara knew she was acting ridiculously - but no matter how hard she tried, the brunette just couldn't shake the images of her dream.

It was like every time she even glimpsed the Airbender, she was reminded of the feel of his dream-self's lips on her own.

It was weird. She had never even thought about Aang that way before - and wasn't the fog of dreams meant to steadily vanish with the clarity of the conscious world? And then there something else - something much more pressing that was worrying the brunette. It wasn't so much _having _the dream that bothered Katara - it was the fact that she had _enjoyed _it so much.

In fact, when thinking about the dream - which seemed to be every minute - Katara would get this warm feeling in her stomach-region, that, she had to admit, wasn't altogether unpleasant.

Oh, Spirits above, she was _so_ confused!

"Katara?"

The Waterbender jerked her head around to the Avatar so fast that she was sure she had sprained a neck muscle in the process. "Yes?" the brunette uttered in a tiny voice.

Yep - her neck did actually quite hurt now.

"Are you ok?"

My God, what was it with _everyone _asking if she was ok? Was she really that transparent?

Katara scrunched up her face in a confused kind of way, as if she really had no clue how Aang could have ever got the idea that she wasn't ok. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

The Airbender shook his head lazily about a little bit. From his shoulder - Momo squeaked, intently absorbed in chewing on something that looked like a leechy nut, but knowing the little flying lemur could very well have been anything. "Oh, I don't know - you've just been really quiet today - and you _did_ get up super late. I mean, that's just weird behaviour in itself." He laughed and nudged his companion playfully, until the Waterbender couldn't help but giggle along with him.

See? She told herself. Everything's fine. You and Aang are just good friends. That crazy dream changes nothing.

Not one thing.

Though…Katara had to admit that the Avatar did look totally cute when he laughed. But that was ok to admit. It was a friendly admittance.

Friend-ly.

But then that hot, tingling sensation started up in the beginnings of her stomach again, and Katara abruptly stopped laughing. Aang appeared not to notice however, as he was already moving onto the next line of conversation.

"Sokka told me you must have been having a really sweet dream, and then waggled his eyebrows at me a lot - whatever _that _means. He's crazy."

"Sure is," Katara mumbled nervously - all the blood suddenly deciding to rush to her cheeks yet again.

Damn her traitorous cheeks!

A hasty cry of warning from Appa instantly cleared any further thoughts of embarrassment from the brunette's mind. She looked to Aang in alarm, before they both began a panicked search of their surroundings.

Surely with the Airbender's keen eyesight, no one could have managed to sneak up on the group?

Katara caught a flicker of something orange that appeared to be shooting straight up at them - before being roughly thrown into Aang, as Appa swerved violently.

The brunette heard her friend's sudden intake of breath, and felt her own heart to turn to ice - as a giant fire-blast roared passed the travellers. They had all been mere inches away from certain death. …Thank the Spirits for Appa…

"What was that?!" cried Toph - almost unable to sense anything while her feet weren't firmly planted on the ground.

"Firebenders!" Katara heard Sokka report quickly, as she somehow managed to scramble up to the edge of the giant bison's head to get a clear view of the ground.

"There!" she yelled, thrusting a finger downwards. "Those people are being attacked!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it for the second. Sorry for the short-ish chapter, but I promise they'll be more to come very soon )

Thank you to everyone who is continuing to read this. Your support means the world.


	3. Into The Fire

Hey hey all :) How be it going yo?

This is quite a long chapter just to make up for last time ;-) Thank you to everyone who's still reading this - means the world.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender…but let's just say if I had a genie and three wishes, then I might ;)

Sweet Dreams - Into The Fire

Aang didn't need to hear anything more. With nothing but a sharp tug of the reins, Appa was suddenly descending. He landed to the ground with a thundering crash, turned backwards to the astounded Fire Nation army and flipped out his broad, platypus-like tail - sending a few of the soldiers flying from the violent air-current it produced.

The gang were on the ground in seconds - each standing in their own unique defensive position.

There were about twenty soldiers at the most. Perhaps not too much of a challenge, but even against the skilled, combined power of the four friends, they were still a foe to be cautious of.

Fire was always something to be cautious of.

The men had long-forgotten the defenceless travellers they had been attacking and now, instead, turned to meet the exceptionally larger threat of the gang and their bison.

"You should get out of here!" Katara cried to the group of, what looked like, Earthbenders. They certainly were dressed like them. "Run. We'll handle everything here."

The travellers stared wide-eyed at the brunette, obviously terrified to risk moving at all.

"Don't go anywhere," one the Firebender's sneered. "We'll be continuing to mug you shortly - just as soon as we take care of these hotheads."

Katara narrowed her eyes. From the glares of the army, she knew that they would show no mercy if the Firebenders were to get the upper-hand in this fight.

Well fine - neither would she.

The front row of men suddenly advanced forward into a charge - swords drawn.

A rock-wall of Toph's instantly formed to combat this. It connected squarely with the right side of the charging force - ploughing its way through and sending all the men crashing to the ground for a nice nap.

The next line of soldiers hesitated - some eyeing their fallen friends with wary eyes. They played it safe. Each man took on a strong, deep-rooted stance, before sending out a combined jet of fire.

Katara reacted instinctively. Morphing her water-whip into a tall blockade, the fire was instantly doused on impact. The combination of fire on water created a great, rising cloud of steam, which the brunette chose to use to her advantage.

Under the cover of the misty concoction, Katara sent a long tentacle of water snaking behind a few members of the army - and pulled. The soldiers let out a cry of surprise - crashing onto their backs before they even had time to realise what had happened.

There was a pause - and then a shout, before the entire firebending army charged at the group.

Fire shot out from all directions, and Katara and Aang suddenly found themselves on high-alert to block the fatal blasts.

It was insane. The pair could barely blink without risking a severe burning.

Toph meanwhile, worked solely on bending large slabs of stone to send the soldiers flying - and Sokka was fighting hand-to-hand against those that somehow managed to dodge the blind girl's lethally accurate attacks. The twenty-two year old was just glad he hadn't been skimping on his combat training - finding he could counter most of the strikes with a well-placed blow of his own.

Appa and Momo were helping the gang in their own way - however, the giant bison was just a teensy-bit more threatening.

Breathing becoming somewhat ragged, Katara felt herself growing more and more fatigued by the second. She just about managed to block another blast of fire heading straight for her head, before sending a steam of water viciously into her attacker's stomach. The impact sent the soldier back a few steps and he doubled over - clutching at his gut. The brunette was relentless however, and she continued her whiplash attack across the man's back, only stopping once she was sure he wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon.

The smoke from all the fire produced was turning the area into a suffocating maze.

Katara could only take a second to breath (which only helped to make the woman cough after inhaling a cloud of ash), until the next soldier was on her. She let out a cry of fury - sending her bending-water out in one, long line of pain - but the soldier dodged it.

Before Katara could even react, the man was mere inches from her - sword raised in readiness to strike -

Before he suddenly flew sideways.

The brunette blinked and looked to her left to see Aang - arms still raised in an attack pose. He nodded her way. "Careful now Katara, I - Katara look out!"

The brunette turned in sudden panic, sensing the presence behind her - before everything went black.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katara awoke groggy and disorientated.

She heard herself groan, though strangely it sounded so terribly far away. There was something cold and hard pressed against the side of the brunette's face, causing her cheek to tingle in pain - and it was with tremendous effort that she finally managed to open her eyes.

Katara was met instantly with darkness - and it took the brunette a couple more seconds to realise it was the floor.

Her whole body ached. She tentatively tried to move an arm, only to find that both her wrists were locked together behind her back.

Panic set in.

Katara jerked her body up quickly and cried out at the pain it caused. The brunette felt so incredibly stiff, and reasoned that she must have been unconscious for quite some time.

The Waterbender's eyes flashed over her surroundings. It was not a pleasant sight.

The room she found herself in was eerily empty - large parts of it shadowed completely in darkness. Katara quickly noted that it was also created entirely of metal, which unnerved her. However, there was something that unnerved the woman even more - her water-skin was gone.

She was defenceless and bound in a large, metal room…something told Katara that this situation was going to get worse before it got better.

The woman struggled for a second to free her trapped wrists - but soon realised it was futile. The bindings holding her were metal too.

With a cry of exertion, the young Water Tribe girl got to her feet - the simple task made difficult without the use of her hands. Her legs, having been locked in one position for so long, instantly protested. The woman gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the pain, as she cautiously experimented with walking.

Her legs felt stiff and heavy, but the Waterbender was just relieved that her limbs weren't jetting out at odd angles.

That's when she heard footsteps.

Her head shot up towards the door, as the unmistakable sound of metal grinding against metal could be heard from behind the heavy barrier.

Katara subconsciously took a few steps back into the corner of the room. She didn't know what to expect - but the fact that she was bound and locked in a metallic prison was definitely not a good sign.

The door opened with a jarring screech.

The brunette felt her heart begin to hammer deep within her chest, as she watched one man enter - and then another. They were both dressed in Fire Nation uniforms - and armed.

Katara just stood, in her corner, watching. The brunette was ready to fight if necessary, despite her obvious disadvantage - but it seemed neither man was interested in approaching her.

The door was still open.

Maybe this was a test?

Beginning to feel just a little bit bolder through the pairs' lack of action, Katara walked forward - but then stopped instantly as she heard a new set of footsteps clanging against the metal walkway outside.

Seconds later - they entered.

Katara couldn't help but gasp.

She knew that fire-red outfit, that severe black hair - and most importantly, Katara knew those empty, ruthless eyes anywhere.

Azula.

The brunette was stunned.

"Funny," began the Firebender, casually wandering up to the shell-shocked form of the young waterbending girl, "my brother, failure that he was, had been hunting the Avatar for years…but always with a frontal assault. How stupid he would feel to know that the answer to all his troubles was so much simpler than that."

Katara glared, as Azula came to stop no more than a foot away from her.

"For the Avatar, despite his inhuman power, carries a very human weakness." Azula paused to direct steely, unwavering eyes to the Waterbender's deviant ones. "His loved ones."

The Firebender laughed, throwing her hands up in the air as she did so. "I mean isn't that ironic? That someone so powerful could be beaten by something so pathetic?"

"What have you done with Aang?" Katara demanded.

Azula smirked - twisting her face into something devilish. "All we had to do was offer up your life in exchange for his. That's all. And that's when the Avatar - last so-called 'hope for the world' - surrendered. …It seems the young Avatar has a soft, mushy heart where his spine should be."

The woman laughed to herself. "I mean it's crazy when you think about it."

"Tell me where he is!"

Azula raised an eyebrow, before suddenly pouncing on Katara with such speed the Waterbender didn't even have time to register the movement. She let out a straggled cry, as Azula grabbed the material of her dress, bringing the girl forward inches from her own face.

The brunette's breath hitched in the back her throat, as she stared into the cold eyes of the Firebender.

"Oh - you're quite the little fireball aren't you? …You know I've not quite forgiven you for almost besting me back at the catacombs."

Their eyes stayed locked together in a silent battle of wills, before the Fire Nation girl finally released Katara, forcing her back a few paces as she did.

"But if you're so worried, I guess I could tell you," Azula said, seemingly indifferent. "He's to be executed at sunrise."

The Waterbender froze - eyes suddenly wide with fear. "No…"

"Yeah I know. I don't know why I really chose to wait until sun-rise," the Firebender continued, tapping her chin absently with her finger. "It's just…things always seem to happen at sun-rise don't they? 'The battle will commence at sunrise;' 'we'll leave at sunrise;' 'we'll wait until sunrise.' It's just the done time I suppose. …And you don't really think I'd just let the Avatar go free?"

The woman laughed as if that was the most ridiculous logic ever.

Katara, eyes tearing slightly, shook her head in disbelief. "…Where's Toph? And Sokka?" She needed to know.

"Who?"

"My friend Toph and my brother! Sokka!"

"Hmmm…that pony-tailed brat and that girl who even rivals my attitude? I think I'll let you just sit on that one for the time being. …Anyway, I'm growing bored of this conversation. Really, you'd think after so many years we'd have more to say to one another. Oh well."

Turning on her heel, Azula made to leave.

But Katara couldn't just leave it there. "How are you not dead?!" she all but shouted - anger and confusion sending her words souring out with a lashing venom.

She thought the Fire Nation was defeated - that all the war and pain and turmoil were a thing of the past. And now, to see Azula with her men…it all just felt like such a wasted effort.

The Firebender paused, before turning back to face her captive. "Well - it certainly isn't for your groups' lack of trying now is it?"

"But I saw it! I saw -"

"What?" Azula scoffed, "that explosion? …Please. I'm a Firebender hunny, figure it out. Big, powerful explosions are my friend."

"But - but."

Katara had to get her head around this. Surely everything her and her friends had fought to save…surely it wouldn't all be for nothing?

"But - the Fire Lord, he-"

"Yes," Azula said, stone-faced. "Now I'm continuing his unfinished life's work. Why do you think Firebenders have become so scarce hmm?"

"…You've been recruiting them. All these years you've been building up an army," Katara said slowly, realisation dawning on her like a kick to the gut.

Azula sneered. "Well with brains like that, I guess it's a little clearer now why Zuzu could never catch you." She raised her eyebrows. "Not just a pretty face then?"

Katara ignored the remark. "How did you manage to keep this so secret? Surely the world leaders would have -"

"The world leaders are a bunch of old men with too much power. It wasn't hard to slip by them un-detected. Especially when less Firebenders only means good news to them anyway. …Hmm, maybe you could call it - ignoring the inevitable."

The Waterbender dropped her eyes.

"I don't really want to kill anyone."

Katara let out a disbelieving snort. Yeah right…she was sure all Azula really wanted was world peace and happiness.

"No really. I don't. …In fact, if you behave, I think you'd make quite a nice slave."

The brunette shot her head up - glaring at her capturer in intense fury. "I'd rather die!"

A bolt of blue lightening suddenly shot by Katara's head, causing her to jump to the side in fright. It crackled against the back wall of the room - leaving only a scorch mark in its wake.

Azula lowered her hand calmly - her fingers smoking slightly. "Be careful what you ask for Waterbender."

There was no threat in Azula's words…only deadly fact. Katara knew the Firebender wouldn't think twice about frying her alive.

Azula's eyes narrowed. "I really would hate to kill someone so useful."

Katara eyed the young woman curiously then. How could _she_ be of any use to Azula? The Firebending nightmare already had Aang in her fiery little clutches. …What was really keeping the brunette alive?

"You can heal," the Firebender said, as way as an explanation. "That's useful to me. …I suggest you don't test me on it though. If you misbehave well…let's just say summer is a beautiful time for a barbeque."

"How do you know about my healing abilities?" the Waterbender asked, her voice shaking.

Azula said nothing, simply tapping her nose in a 'that's my little secret' gesture. She smirked, gave a sharp little laugh and walked out of the room.

The guards stood for a beat, just staring at Katara - before turning to leave themselves.

The door slammed with a heavy bang - the locks grinding into place - and then there was silence.

Katara stared at the door for a moment, still trying to accept all she had just found out. The Fire Nation, especially with Azula's leadership, could be a great threat to the world once again if the rulers of the Water and Earth Nations weren't prepared.

She needed to find her friends and send warning to the other Nations! If Azula thought her words would only work to send hopelessness to the brunette's heart, then she was dead wrong.

Katara had until sunrise to find Aang - and she was damn well going to use every second of it.

The Waterbender sat and carefully directed her arms under her legs, freeing them from behind her back. At least at her front, Katara could use her hands more effectively.

Rushing to the door, the brunette instantly went to work on finding a way out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whoa - revelations! ;-) Hope everyone enjoyed that - review if you wanna. I have no idea where I'm going with this! Lol ;-)


	4. A Lesson In Metalbending

This is the next chapter! Yay. Whoa - fast I know. But inspiration struck and what can I say? I just had to write! ;-)

I would like to thank everyone so much for all the lovely reviews - they are wonderful. And I would also like to personally thank my semi-anonymous reviewer: Brianna Blackshear :-D Your review was really touching. I'm so glad I could help - have a wonderful time in your advanced writing class. And I'm just really glad you're enjoying everything.

Oh plus, this is random ;-) but if anyone hasn't been on YouTube to watch Avatar Abridged Special: Haru Beauty Products, then go watch it right now! (Urr…after you read this of course ;-) ) - It's soooo funny! And um, you might want to all do yourselves a favour and watch the whole Avatar Abridged Series cause they're all excellent.

Anyway that's enough of promoting someone else's work - here's mine:

Disclaimer: Shockingly, as I'm writing Avatar fan fictions in my spare time for absolutely no profit - I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I know. Crazy.

Sweet Dreams: A Lesson In Metalbending

Katara sighed loudly in frustration and leaned against the metal door that held her. Ok - perhaps getting out of her cell was going to be harder than the brunette originally thought.

The door was sturdy alright. It was a very well-built, very _stupid_ door that wouldn't budge even an inch!

Futility, Katara let her fist thump against its heavy, metallic face. There was no weaknesses; no holes; no secret latches. How was Katara supposed to warn the Nations when she couldn't even get out of her damn prison cell?

One thing was for sure, determination alone was not going to do it.

Wait - perhaps there was a guard?

"Ummm….hello?" the brunette cried just slightly louder than her normal talking voice, allowing the sound to travel through the thick door.

Seconds ticked by with nothing to offer but silence. Katara's eyes dropped and she sighed again, allowing herself to slump just a little bit more heavily against the door.

The brunette quickly jumped to her feet again however, as a loud thumping noise sounded through the metal surface.

"No talking water wench," came the sharp reply.

Katara's eyes widened and she grinned. There _was_ someone guarding her after all. Hmm…that could very well work in the Waterbender's favour. "Oh - thank goodness someone's there," she cried in her best 'I'm a helpless damsel - please save me' voice. "I, um,…I've got a problem."

Katara bit her bottom lip nervously - hoping against hope that the guard was gullible enough to believe her…maybe even come in and check on her?

"What's wrong with you?" he grunted.

"I've…I've injured myself!" Katara replied, quite proud that she had come up with such a plausible answer so quickly. "I've cut myself. I'm bleeding…ur - badly. I need some sort of bandage. Please!"

Unfortunately for Katara, the guard just started to laugh. "You must think I'm pretty stupid girlie."

"I'm being completely honest with you - I need help! Spirits above I could bleed to death here!"

"And I guess you want some water to slow the flow eh?" He laughed.

"I just need something to stop the bleeding!"

"I would rather you die in there here and now, than have me risk suffering Azula's wrath because I let you escape."

Katara gritted her teeth. Damn. "Please…if you let me die, Azula will be _really_ angry. I'm useful to her."

"I'm sure she'll get over it."

Oh, how the brunette wanted to hurt that man. Damn Azula for hiring such good guards that knew how to do their job and not be bluffed by their captives!

It was just a good thing for her that she wasn't slowly dying on the floor - clearly there were no gentlemen around to save her if that _were_ the case.

It was time for a new tact.

Letting a finger slowly drape down the door, Katara purred, "Alright, so you caught me. I'm not really injured. …I was just - looking for a bit of company…if you know what I mean."

The brunette almost gagged on her own words. That had to be the most disgusting thing she had ever said. Ever.

"Come on - I know I'm going to die anyway. Why shouldn't I have a little bit of fun first?"

Oh Spirits above she wanted to vomit - she wanted to vomit so much.

Annoyingly, the guard simply laughed again. "Now I'd definitely get in trouble for _that._"

Unable to hold in her frustration any longer, Katara growled, shouting, "Just let me out!"

"You ain't going nowhere girlie. Now shut-up and stop bothering me."

"Please," the Waterbender implored, "my best friend in the whole world could die tomorrow - I _need _to save him. Surely you've got a family? Can you imagine if it was them on the line?"

If nothing else would help, maybe pure honesty could?

There was a long pause. …It stretched. Apparently the guard wasn't a family man.

Crying out in frustration, Katara started to pound on the door. "Oh, would you just let me out!"

"Hey there big boy," someone suddenly said.

The brunette instantly became still. She recognised that voice…

From behind her metal barrier, Katara heard the guard let out a grunt of surprise. It was quickly followed by a loud thud.

The Waterbender put her ear up against the door - eyes wide with intrigue.

"Katara?"

She pulled away in surprise and smiled. Katara smiled the biggest smile she had ever smiled. "Sokka?! - Oh my - how did you get out? Are you ok?!"

"I'm fine sis - Toph's here with me."

Toph. Yes, the brunette knew that was the blind girl's voice before.

"You doing ok sweetness?"

Katara laughed. "Better now thanks Toph. …The key! Oh - the key on the soldiers belt."

"Not necessary. I'm gonna bust you out of there myself," Toph informed the Waterbender confidently.

"Ur - Toph, wouldn't using the key just be easier?" Katara heard her brother ask gingerly.

"Why are you trying to step on my moment Sokka?"

"Toph," the brunette interrupted, before rocks starting flying, "this prison is made of metal. Even with your skills you can't bend _metal_."

The Earthbender laughed. "Wanna bet? Come on, I could do with having a few more silver pieces."

"Toph -"

"Stand back Katara. Just relax and watch me make some magic happen."

The Waterbender eyed the door uncertainly. Surely she couldn't?…Katara backed away anyway.

The brunette's eyes then increased to ten-times their normal size as Toph - little tiny, blind girl Toph - punched out a large indent in the _metallic _door, before it crumbled inwards and then simply crashed to the floor - completely broken away from its hinges.

Katara gaped as the little Earthbender and her brother wandered into her cell. Sokka eyed the door and let out a low whistle. "Jeez Toph - I'm gonna remind myself never to annoy you."

"Toph!" Katara exclaimed, "Oh my Spirits how the - how did you do that?!"

Toph shrugged like it was nothing and then shot the Waterbender a sly little smirk. "I learnt I could do that back in Ba-Sing-Sa."

"But that was years ago! How come you never told me?!"

"I wanted to surprise yah."

Katara smiled. "Well congratulations that was _definitely_ a surprise. …How did you know where I was?"

"We didn't," Sokka replied.

"Yeah," Toph put in, "we just tried every door that was guarded. …Turns out these guys like to guard a _lot_ of weapon holds."

"You didn't see Aang?" Katara asked suddenly, the hope of such a fact evident in her voice.

Toph heard the Waterbender's optimism as clear as day - and knew she would have to be the one to crush it to dust. The Earthbender's eyes fell. "I'm sorry Katara…we couldn't find him. Or Momo and Appa."

The brunette nodded. "That's ok. We can search for Momo and Appa later. At the moment Aang's our first priority - he's gotta be around here somewhere. But whatever, we have to find him before sunrise."

"What happens at sunrise?" Sokka asked.

His sister looked to him gravely. "Aang dies."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There's something I need to tell you guys. It's something that you're not going to like," Katara began, absently rubbing at her sore, newly-freed wrists as the threesome carefully manoeuvred their way around the Firebenders hideout. Toph had thoughtfully broken her metallic bounds back at the prison cell.

"Oh not more bad news…" Sokka whined from her side.

The brunette winced. "Ur - well -"

"There's someone heading toward us!" Toph interrupted suddenly - head snapping up.

Katara's eyes widened. "Which direction?"

The group stopped abruptly. Both Katara and Sokka looked frantically over their shoulders, while Toph tested the ground.

The Earthbender nodded absently to herself, quickly coming to a conclusion. "They're at our front."

"Damn," Katara cursed under her breath. "We gotta hide." She looked around in a panic, before saying, "Quick - this way."

Hurriedly, the three friends settled into a particularly dark corridor and flattened themselves as close to the wall as possible - hoping it would mask them in shadow.

They could only pray that whoever it was that was heading toward them wouldn't turn down that corridor. Otherwise they were all as good as caught.

Katara remembered Azula's promise to her - and gulped.

Footsteps - steady and rhythmic - suddenly echoed up from the hallway. Shadows loomed across the groups hiding place and without realising it, all three held their breath.

Two soldiers came into view - quickly marching pass the corridor, but there were more footsteps following.

Katara shrank back a little, as four more soldiers quickly came and went.

The Waterbender felt her heart begin to hammer. There was another set of footsteps still approaching.

That's when the unmistakable form of Azula walked into view. It seemed she would continue to walk straight past the corridor as her soldiers had - but at the last second, the Firebender paused.

Katara felt Sokka tense next to her. Spirits - had Azula heard her heart beating? It was certainly loud enough.

The Firebender just stood and listened for a moment, before turning towards the corridor entrance. She stared.

The brunette wanted so desperately to slink down further into the safe darkness, but she dared not move even an inch, positive that Azula's hawk-like eyes would spot even the tiniest light fluctuation.

And so they all just stayed perfectly still and prayed.

Azula's narrowed eyes flicked back and forth and she took a step forward.

Katara grimaced and closed her eyes - hoping that the action wouldn't be enough to allow Azula to discover them.

The Firebender made a thoughtful noise, before suddenly turning and continuing to march down the metal hallway.

Everyone remained silent, each just listening to the gradually fading footsteps of Azula.

Many moments ticked by before Katara actually allowed herself to breath again. Her heart was still pounding and with a grave expression, she looked to her companions.

"Azula's here!" Sokka spat in a harsh whisper. "She's not dead?! - Was that your big news or is their worse? …_Please _don't tell there's worse."

"How is it possible that Azula isn't dead?" Toph asked.

Katara closed tired eyes for a second and rubbed at her temples. This was all becoming a bit too much. "Azula came to my cell. She's built up an army and she's looking to finish what the ex-Fire Lord started. …I don't know how she survived the blast."

The Waterbender dropped her eyes, remembering the inferno the gang had created all those years ago, praying it would wipe out the Fire Nation nobles once and for all.

Apparently, the timed explosion hadn't been as effective as they had hoped.

"But we _saw_ the explosion," Sokka continued, apparently having difficulty accepting the very much _alive _state of Azula. "There's no way anyone could have survived that."

"You saw her Sokka," the brunette said sternly. She shook her head. "Anyway come on - we have to find Aang. Spirits above I hope he's ok…"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it for the time bean…ur, being. But don't worry, I promise with all these ideas swimming about in my brain, that more will be on the way very soon :-D

You all have a lovely day now. Review if you're that way inclined.


	5. Now If I Was An Avatar, Where Would I Be

Ok - here's the next chapter. Whoot whoot.

I'm really sorry, but this chapter has LOADS of dialogue in it and not a lot of action. Sorry. I'll make up for it next time though. Promise ;-)

Disclaimer: Did I remember to do one of these last time? Oh well. Anyway - it's not mine. Don't sue please. Thank you.

Sweet Dreams: Now If I Was An Avatar, Where Would I Be?

Azula glared, hard-faced, at the broken, crumbled remains of her once beautiful prison cell door and she growled. It was a sound that wasn't unlike the low warning of a hot-tempered panther ready to strike.

Her eyes flicked to the supposed 'guard' - who was supposedly meant to be 'guarding' that particular holding - strewn, face-up, across the floor.

He wasn't moving. If the man was dead, it was of little concern to the Fire Lord. If he had survived however, well…Azula would make sure he sorely wished that he hadn't.

Behind the Firebender, her men held their breath. One particularly brave soldier stepped forward to check the unconscious guard. Slightly shaky hands felt for the man's pulse.

It was there.

"He's alive my Liege," the soldier informed.

Azula took her time in answering, choosing first to walk forward and examine the door. Her eyes danced over the destroyed mess of metal, and she kneeled down for a closer look. "Good, then I want him shaken awake and dragged off to the shackles. Maybe a few days of that will heighten his observation. I don't hire guards just so that my prisoners can escape anyway."

The soldier's eyes widened slightly, but he made no further indication of argument. Roughly, he shook at the guard.

It took a few minutes before the jerky movements finally penetrated the man's subconscious, and he came back to reality with a groan. Instantly, the soldier's hand shot to his head.

"Spirits…what happened?"

Azula's predatory eyes snapped to him. Noiselessly, she got to her feet and stalked over to the guard.

The newly-conscious man noticed the movement, and for him there couldn't have been anything more intimidating in the whole world. He flinched as Azula came to stop by his side - towering over the guard with a hard glare.

He, quite literally, feared for his life at that moment.

"Tell me, why is it that you're on the floor napping like a contented puppy when you should be doing your job and guarding my prisoners?"

The question was asked in an almost casual way, but the guard was not to be fooled. He knew the storm that would be brewing within Azula and the words did nothing but send shivers down his gradually disappearing spine. The soldier noticed the man who had originally come to shake him awake had edged away. "They took me by surprise my Lord!"

Azula's eyes narrowed and with the speed of a snapping serpent she shot down to the man, demanding, "Who did?!"

The guard cowered away. "I don't know who they were! There was a man…a - and a smaller girl. They, they -"

The Firebender righted herself, appearing suddenly calm as she thought. To all witnessing, the woman was a mix of constantly changing emotions - completely unpredictable. Woe to the person who ever tried to figure her out…

It seemed obvious to Azula that the Earthbender and her annoying, pony-tailed friend had escaped and then freed the water peasant.

How very troublesome, she thought. Spirits above, she _must_ start hiring better guards.

"So you're telling me that you allowed a little girl and her non-bending boyfriend to take you down? This is what you're telling me?!"

"The Water Tribe girl - she was distracting my focus -"

The guard was a hardened, trained Fire Nation soldier - and yet Azula could turn even the bravest of heart into whimpering, jabbering fools.

The Firebender scrunched her nose up in disgust, thoroughly fed-up with the man now. "Oh he's pathetic, someone just take him away please."

The woman waved her hand in dismissal and turned back to where her soldiers were now examining the prison cell.

The guard was lead off without a fight (terrified into silence perhaps?)

"Someone tell me how this happened."

"This door has just been thrown completely free from its hinges," one soldier said, sounding quite astounded. "What - what could have done this?!"

Azula watched him shake his head in bewilderment, before another soldier approached her.

"Shall I sound the alarm my Lord?" he asked.

"No," she replied breezily, as if unworried by the rapid turn of events. "They're sentimental fools. They let their hearts rule them and because of that they won't even think about leaving before trying to rescue the Avatar. Hmm…such a stupid weakness. - All we have to do is wait. And besides, if they don't know that we're on to them, then they won't be expecting us…and I do so love a dramatic entrance." The Firebender smirked to herself, before continuing, "Now call Grennit to me. I want to know if he's arranged the sale of that six-legged monstrosity we captured yet."

The soldier saluted and left quickly.

Azula sighed and turned back to regard the broken, battered door.

Only a handful of things could turn her strong, thick barrier into the crumpled heap it had become. And most of them involved dynamite.

The Firebender would rather be eaten alive by a thousand, hungry wolf-bats than admit it, but she really had no clue what or indeed _who _could have caused such destruction.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toph walked with her head tilted to the floor. Her ears strained for even the tiniest of foreign sounds - other than those radiating from either Sokka or Katara of course.

Since the revelation of Azula's non-death, the mood was a somewhat sombre one.

"Alright. I'm really trying to be optimistic, but what are we going to do here?"

"Find Aang," Katara answered her brother's question with unwavering determination. In fact, so eager was the brunette to find their lost friend, that she had the group practically marching - a task that was proving a bit hard on Toph's poor little legs.

"I _meant_ the Azula situation," Sokka elaborated. "Even after we find Aang, Appa and Momo - she's still a very real threat."

"That's for sure," Toph added, ever helpful.

"Right. And it's not like we can just wait around for another eclipse to come along and help us out this time."

The Waterbender curved her lips up in thought. She had come to believe that there was always a way out of a bad situation. It was an unshakable faith that had led her through even the most hopeless of times. "Azula's hard to pin down, that's true. But it's not impossible. We've got to remember that Azula, despite her fancy metal hideout; and all the soldiers; and her crazy blue lightening attacks -"

She paused, noticing that Toph and Sokka were both giving her very weird looks.

"You know, if this is your idea of an inspirational speech Katara, then you might want to work on the 'inspirational' bit just a touch…" the Earthbender remarked.

"Alright, sorry. Here's my point - she's still just human. We'll get out of here; warn the other nations and then fight as hard as we can. We just…we can't give up. Ok guys?"

The pair nodded. Katara wasn't sure if they were one hundred percent convinced - that speech had been a little shaky - but for now a nod was good enough.

A moment of quiet settled on the group then, only interrupted by their careful steps against the metal walkway.

Sokka was, of course, the one to break this unwritten banner of silence. "You know…I wonder how many other familiar Fire Nation faces _weren't _wiped out by our blast. The Fire Lord may not even really be dead."

Katara shook her head. "I'm sure he is. Azula seemed quite proud that she would be carrying on her father's legacy of terror and hostile-takeovers."

"Right because Firebender's - they never _lie _or anything."

She shot her brother an irritable look. "_Anyway_, in-between Azula gloating at me, she did mention Zuko. But only in the passing sense…and even then, it was derogatory."

"Aw that Firebending sleaze?" cried Sokka in disgust, "Knowing Zuko, he probably had one his trademark 'changes of heart' and got thrown out again. He never knew who's side he was on." There was a pause as the Water Tribe warrior scowled, before spitting out, "I _hated_ that guy."

Katara's eyes dropped to the floor. A sad ache she couldn't quite explain suddenly clutched at her heart. "It's a shame about Zuko. …There was goodness in him…if only he could have seen it himself."

The brunette shook her head absently, while Sokka glared at his sister in some kind of shock. "What are you talking about Katara?! Don't you remember all those times he tried to kill us?"

"Of course. I just don't think that's _all_ there was to him…that's all. The Fire Nation took his mother away from him you know."

Katara felt her voice hitch at the mention of 'mothers.' Subconsciously, she fingered her necklace.

"Why are we even talking about this?" asked Sokka, exasperated. "I'm sorry, but there's no middle ground when it comes to the Fire Nation. You're either fighting for a better world or you're fighting for its destruction."

Toph, half-listening to the siblings' conversation, suddenly piped up. "Oh, I don't know. Iroh was technically Fire Nation and I always thought he was really, well…nice."

The Earthbender smiled despite herself. That man could sure make a good pot of tea.

Katara let out a thoughtful noise. "He did save me and Aang too - that time back in Ba Sing Se…I wonder whatever happened to him."

"He's probably with Zuko. Anyway, who cares? Whatever the situation I'm sure it'll all come crashing down around our heads soon enough. Now can we stop having this debate about whether Firebenders equal evil or not? I'm getting a headache."

That's when Toph suddenly stopped. The siblings' continued to walk - until realising the Earthbender was no longer with them.

"Toph?" Katara questioned.

The teenage girl remained completely still for a moment - her misty gaze fixed on nothingness - before saying, "I heard something."

Brother and sister shared a panicked look and rushed back to their friend.

"Firebenders?" The brunette asked urgently as, next to her, Sokka glanced about with nervous, searching eyes.

The Earthbender shook her head. "No. I just thought that maybe I heard…wait. Yes! There it is again! - Can't you hear that?!"

Everyone fell completely silent, the Water Tribe members even craning their necks to hear. Katara looked to her brother enquiringly, but he could only shrug and shake his head in the negative. Whatever this noise was, it seemed only Toph's finely-tuned ears could pick it up.

"We don't hear anything Toph…"

The raven-haired girl shook her head in annoyance. "Oh, it's gone now. I'm sure I just heard…Aang."

"Aang?!" Katara parroted, albeit much more loudly. "Where?"

"Skywards."

The Waterbender furrowed her brow at the answer. "Do you mean there's a floor above us?"

"No, look," Sokka exclaimed, pointing to the ceiling. "There's a ventilation tunnel up there. You must have heard Aang's voice echoing through that air-vent Toph."

"Which means, if we follow this shaft, it'll lead to Aang!" Katara's heart skipped-a-beat at this new revelation.

Toph moved toward the wall and placed both palms upon it. After a few seconds, she nodded. "This tunnel's made of metal," the girl stated, despite that being quite an obvious fact for the 'ready-sighted' members of the group. "I can bend it down to our level and we can crawl through it."

She smiled, seeming quite pleased to have a reason to wreck precious Fire Nation material again.

Sokka put up a finger. "Ur - wouldn't it be easier if we just follow the vent? You know, while staying on the ground?"

Toph turned to the man sharply. "That's too risky," she informed him tersely. "This way, we'll have the element of surprise in our favour. They'd never expect us to appear out from the air-ventilation."

"…Would we really?"

"I said I'm bending the damn shaft Sokka!"

The Water Tribe soldier jumped back slightly at the outburst - arms springing up in truce. "Ok, great idea Toph." He smiled widely at her.

The Earthbender nodded, as if to say 'that's more like it,' and went to stand in her usual horse-stance, directly under the air-shaft.

Katara giggled lightly to herself at the whole affair, while Sokka narrowed his eyes at her.

Wearing a mask of only the purest concentration, Toph steadily worked into a rhythm of stretching her arms up, before pulling them forcefully back down to her sides.

Needless to say, it wasn't long until the grating whine of metal breaking and bending away from itself filled the air.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, firstly - does everyone understand my imagery here? We all know those air-tunnels/vents that protrude out from the ceiling right? Well, what Toph's doing is tearing it in half and bending one side down towards them so that they can climb up into it and crawl through. Capice?

I know it's mental.

And secondly - thanks for reading. Sorry, I realise this chapter was pretty wordy. I hope it wasn't too boring ;-)

Oh plus, I realise I have Azula's men referring to her as a 'Fire Lord' here. I didn't really know if that was correct or not. 'Lord' is usually in reference to men - but Azula being Azula, I think she'd demand nothing less than that title, despite gender. So yeah. Unsure.

Ur, I don't know if there's much to review here (not a lot happened!) but go for it if you get the urge

;-D

Much love guys. Next update will be mucho exciting I promise!


	6. Travelling Via Vent

**Hey everybody :) It's me, that girl who started this story five-thousand years ago, left it at a crucial stage in its plot progression and then never updated ever again...hi. Okay, so yeah, I'm really sorry about the not updating. I'm not really sure what happened. I guess interest was lost. But you know what guys? I was watching some clips from that terrible 'Last Airbender' movie the other day - that freaking Mister Movie Death (Shyamalan) created by apparently blowing his nose and then using the resulting mucus to create the movie - and I thought, 'My God, this is the worst thing ever. I'm gonna have to watch some of the original cartoon to wipe my memory of this movie' and I remembered just how good the animation was. And I guess that re-ignited my inspiration to continue this story. Wow - that was a long explanation. So anyway, I did another chapter. I do hope that someone reads it and that they like it. It's a bit wordy, this chapter, but this is purely set-up for the INCREDIBLE AMAZING FIGHT SCENE TO COME! So stay-tuned. **

**Also, I re-read this story just to get reacquainted with it and for all the times that I described Katara as 'the brunette' - I'm sorry. It's actually really annoying to read. So that's not going to happen anymore. I like to think that I've evolved as a writer over the years a little, but you can be the judge of that ;) **

**I might add that I haven't actually seen Book 3 of A:TLA yet, which shouldn't matter for this story as it's set after the Fire Lord's demise anyway, but I just wanted to lay that out there. Please don't spoil it for me ;) Thanks. Now, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own.**

Travelling Via Vent

An air shaft, Katara had firmly decided, was definitely not the most pleasant of places to spend an afternoon. It was dusty, dark and suffocating. Her knees were sore from rubbing them back and forth against the metallic floor of the vent and her legs hurt from being locked in one position for so long.

But the diversion from the ground was proving quite an effective way to travel without fear of being spotted though, so she wasn't going to complain.

Especially since Sokka was doing enough of that for the both of them.

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this!" he whined.

Katara clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Right Sokka, because this is everybody's idea of a good time."

Sokka pointedly ignored her. Far too caught up in his own drama, apparently. "I mean these shafts probably stretch for miles across the building. We'll be stuck in here forever! I don't think Aang's gonna be too happy if we turn up years late for his rescue."

"Don't say things like that Sokka! We'll find him -"

"Would you two please shut-up?" Toph snarled from in front of Katara. She didn't sound impressed. "I'm trying to listen. …Unless you two really do want us to be stuck here in the ventilation for the entirety of our young lives?"

The siblings were instantly silenced, allowing Toph to put her full attention into judging the sounds around her.

Katara really couldn't hear anything, but she trusted Toph. The Earthbender had never steered them wrong before.

The group's progress was slow - filled with stops and starts as Toph paused to listen, sometimes for many minutes, before moving forward again.

Toph had bended their entry point back to its original position once everyone was securely inside. The fact that the air vent probably looked a little butchered from the ground was a fact that Katara hoped the casual Fire Nation soldier on patrol would miss. Unless they looked directly up.

Okay, so it was a risk.

Katara only hoped that they wouldn't be met with a line of fireballs once they eventually reached Aang. Though to hope was one thing - the reality of the situation was quite another. Deep in her heart of hearts, Katara knew Azula would be waiting for them - blue lightning and all.

She sighed. Another million years dragged by before Toph eventually stopped in front of her again. Katara took the opportunity to arch her back out slightly. It cracked in several places, but it felt good.

"Katara," Toph whispered, suddenly urgent. It was the first time Toph had used such a quiet tone of voice. What had changed?

"Yeah?"

Toph crawled forward a few paces to reveal a ventilation grate. "I think this is where the trail ends," she said. "Look through. See if you can see anything."

Katara nodded - a pointless gesture considering that Toph was both blind and not facing her - and slowly eased herself forward to get a good view through the vent.

She saw the floor. And it appeared to be glowing red from, what Katara assumed, was a nearby fire.

Slipping her fingers through the holes in the grate, Katara gently lifted - wincing as the movement caused a sharp grating sound.

"What are you doing?" whispered Toph. She was still facing forwards, unable to turn around in the confined space.

"I can't see anything," Katara explained, placing the successfully removed grate between her and Toph. "I just need to get a better look."

"You're going to get us caught!" hissed Toph.

"What is she doing?" Sokka's voice suddenly chimed in. "Katara - are you about to do something stupid that will end up getting us caught? Because I haven't travelled miles in this stupid vent just to have you do something reckless -"

"I'm not!" she growled, resisting the urge to give her brother a good kick. "Now, don't panic you guys. One look is all I need."

Katara heard everybody sigh. Honestly, they had no faith in her.

Gripping the sides of the opening, Katara cautiously poked her head through. The room was dark, and only very dimly lit by a few flaming torches fixed sporadically along the wall. The good news was that the room seemed clear of any Firebenders - the bad news though, was that the room seemed quite clear of anything else as well. Apart from a large metal door right on the other side - but wait, no - there was something else. A shadow in the corner of the room. Katara stared at it, willing her eyes to adjust to the gloom.

"Aang?" she whispered. There was no response, but Katara was sure. Pulling herself back into the vent, Katara informed the others of her find. "It's Aang. I know it. We've found him." Her eyes were wide and her heart was racing with anticipation. There was a beat and then, "I'm going down there."

"No Katara - wait," Toph urged.

"It's a trap. You know it's a trap," joined in Sokka. "We need a plan here."

"There's no time. We'll just, we'll just deal with whatever happens." Katara had to admit that her words, even to her, sounded somewhat stupid - but it didn't matter. She needed to get to Aang. She needed to make sure he was safe - and then they could stop and waste time planning. "Follow after me," she said, quickly bringing her legs under herself and letting them dangle, before carefully hopping down through the gap.

The drop wasn't far, but still, Katara landed with a grunt, collapsing to her knees. She was surprised to find that the ground was soft. It was earth - soil. How odd in a building otherwise made of metal. Katara didn't dwell on it. She looked around quickly. It was still all clear.

Getting to her feet, Katara whispered up to Toph and Sokka. "Okay."

"Who's there?"

Katara twisted her head around to the voice. A smile involuntarily lit up her face, despite the dire situation. It _was_ Aang.

Walking forward so that Aang could clearly see her, she said, "It's okay Aang, it's me."

His hands and feet were chained to an erected wooden structure that scarily resembled a crucifix.

"Katara?"

"And us," Sokka added, as he and Toph came to stand beside Katara. They smiled.

Aang meanwhile, looked like he was going to be sick. It wasn't quite the welcoming expression everyone had expected.

"What are you guys doing here?" He whispered harshly. "Don't you know it's a trap?"

"Why, what an interesting show of gratitude, Aang," gibed Sokka. "I don't think that I've ever felt more welcome. How very flattering. Why don't you just kick us all in our butts while you're at it - up there, being all gracious?" Sokka grinned. "What? You think that we'd just leave you here? I just had to crawl through _miles_ of dark, dusty vent hell, okay? - and I'm not giving up on you now -"

"Okay Sokka, you've made your point," cut in Katara with the usual exasperation she reserved for her brother. "We figured that we wouldn't get you back without a fight," she said to Aang. "But let's at least get you out of these chains before it starts. ...Toph?"

The Earthbender stepped towards Aang with a huge grin on her face. "Oh yeah, I was just waiting for another excuse to do some serious damage."

**And that's the chapter. Please comment if you can. Next chapter to follow soon :) **


End file.
